The Kaiser Health Tracking Poll is the Foundation’s signature survey project, providing consistent and up-to-date information on the public’s opinions, knowledge, and experiences with the U.S. health care system. The Tracking Poll has been a primary tool for monitoring all aspects of public opinion on the Affordable Care Act, including the public’s experiences under the law and their views on its provisions and on efforts to repeal and replace it. The Tracking Poll also captures the public’s views and experiences with Medicare, Medicaid, health costs, prescription drugs and other health issues that are in the news or are driving national and state policy debates. See all health tracking polls below.

Our Health Tracking Poll Interactive allows users to track public opinion on the Affordable Care Act, from the inception of the law to the present, for subgroups based on age, race, income, gender, party identification and insurance status.

This month’s Health Policy News Index finds more than six in 10 say they followed
news about long waiting lists for those seeking care at Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facilities closely.
That makes the VA story the most closely followed health story in the first half of 2014, with slightly
more people following it than followed several ACA enrollment stories earlier this year.

One of the most politically polarizing elements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the law’s requirement that new private health insurance plans cover prescription contraceptives and services, including all methods approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The rule currently provides an exemption for houses of worship and an…

Democrats More Likely to Say They Have Been Helped By the Law, Republicans More Likely to Say They Have Been Hurt Republican Voters Want ACA Debate to Continue, Democrats Would Rather Hear Candidates Talk About Issues Like Jobs, Independents Are More Split More than four years after the Affordable Care…

The Kaiser Health Policy News Index is designed to help journalists and policymakers understand which health policy-related news stories Americans are paying attention to, and what the public understands about health policy issues covered in the news. This month’s Index finds that news about the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollment numbers was followed by more than half the public, ranking behind two non-health news stories (the kidnapping of Nigerian schoolgirls and the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia).

More than four years after the Affordable Care Act’s enactment and more than a month after the close of open enrollment, six in 10 Americans say the health reform law has not had an impact on them or their families, Kaiser’s May Tracking Poll finds. Among those who say it has, Republicans are much more likely to say their families have been hurt by the law than helped, while Democrats are more likely to say their families have been helped than hurt.

This Visualizing Health Policy infographic takes a look at public opinion of the Affordable Care Act at the end of the first enrollment period, including the persistent deep partisan divisions, the sources of people’s impressions, and the favorable views towards many of the ACA’s least well-known provisions. Further, more people want…

Most Common Reason for Remaining Uninsured is Not Being Able to Find an Affordable Plan; Just 7 Percent Would Rather Pay a Fine than Pay for Coverage As the Supreme Court Considers Challenge, a Majority Supports the Law’s Requirements for Contraceptive Coverage, Including for Employers with Religious Objections Despite the…

Despite the news that 8 million people have signed up for health insurance through the ACA’s new marketplaces, the April Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds no change in overall opinion of the law since last month . The most common reason for remaining uninsured is not being able to find an affordable plan. Also, a majority of the public supports the ACA’s requirement that private health insurance plans cover the full cost of birth control and believes that for-profit companies should be subject to this requirement even if their owners object to birth control on religious grounds.

The Kaiser Health Policy News Index is designed to help journalists and policymakers understand which health policy-related news stories Americans are paying attention to, and what the public understands about health policy issues covered in the news. This month’s Index finds that the public followed the missing Malaysia Airlines flight, the shooting at the Fort Hood army post, and the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, more closely than any health policy news stories. Among health policy news, the most closely-followed story was coverage of how many people have enrolled in health insurance options under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which just over half the public reports following “very” or “fairly” closely.